I thought my cover was blown....

[Hottchick]

I am an outlaw. My town has a ridiculous ordinance requiring permits with permission from neighbors to own chickens and they require 1/2 acre per chicken. Stupid. So, of course I ignored it. I have 8 girls in my backyard.

A Tax Appraiser from the county showed up at my house this afternoon. Scared the mess out of me. Had I been thinking clearly I would have realized, the county tax appraiser has nothing to do with town ordinance but at the moment, I thought "oh no, my chickens!"

One of my "friends" or "neighbors" anonymosly reported to the tax office that I had a finished basement in my house that wasn't listed on my tax assesment. Really, people, get a life! Anyway...why people feel they have to dig into people's lives when they're not bothering anyone is beyond me.

 

[karimw]

1/2 acre PER CHICKEN?

What is the thinking behind that? If they are cooped it doesn't matter and if not, it isn't enough!

wow. I'm lucky to live in the country.

To bad about the basement issue too - I guess you can't let anyone in your home these days.

 

[heather112588]

i gotta ask bc im curious. where do you hail from? what state has this law? its ridicilous!!!

 

[desertdarlene]

Wow, that means to have just 20 chickens/ducks, you would need 10 acres. If you lived in California, you would need to have a lot of money for even 1/10th that much land.

 

[Tdub4chiks]

I don't think a "friend" would do that.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

I agree, that was an aquaintance. A friend wouldn't stab you in the back. If they claim to be a friend,....... loose 'em.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Well, how would either a friend or acquaintance KNOW whether your finished basement was known by hte tax assessor? At least here, even though tax records are public, there are so many codes and abbreviations to mean different things that deciphering exactly what is listed and taxed would take a heck of a lot of time.

 

[desertdarlene]

Quote:
That's a great point. I mean, I never would think that someone's basement wasn't known to the tax assessor even if it really wasn't. The thought would never occur to me. Someone must have too much time on their hands.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Wow, that sucks! i'm sorry. i would want to figure out who reported me on the basement and exclude them from my "friends" list. There's just no call for that.

And that rule about 1/2 acre per chicken is ridiculous. If we had that here i would only get to have one chicken.

 

[Hottchick]

I would like to think that none of my "friends" would have done that. My husband says maybe they were just fishing and got lucky. I don't know. I don't think it's going to change anything as far as value goes. If someone really did do that, I would love to know who it is.

I live in one of the most rural places you could ever want to see in Eastern North Carolina. I live in town on .91 acre. According to the ordinance I would have to have a meeting and ask my neighbors' permission to have chickens. I would have to obtain a permit and then I could have 2 on my property. I couldn't believe it when I asked if they lumped chickens in with livestock as far as the town ordinance was concerned and was told that that was correct. They refused to change it too. I didn't ask the town board myself but if it ever comes up again I will fight it myself. For now I'm just flying under the radar. Actually I'm flying in the face of authority I guess. As long as no one takes issue I should be fine. If they do, I will fight.